Winter Peach Ice Cream on a Popcorn Cookie

Around these parts, as I'm sure you know, ice cream is pretty popular year round. Homemade peach ice cream, though, is usually reserved for those long sunny months when the fuzzy fruit is well in season, when markets are loaded down with those gorgeous rosy globes. That's the general rule, right? Whenever you can, use fresh fruit in season.

But rummaging around in our freezer the other day, I came across a bag of long forgotten, but still fully viable, peach slices and thought it might just be time to whip up a batch of the homemade stuff--winter or no winter. After all, there's no law on the books prohibiting it. May not be preferable, in ideal circumstances that is, but using frozen fruit's not even a misdemeanor. No jail time will be served. So go check your freezer, right now. Way in the back. Bet you've got a bag of frozen peaches in there somewhere, too.

But wait, enough about the ice cream . . . what is that curious disk supporting it? Why, that's made from a happily baked concoction of popped popcorn that's been pureed with sugar, a tiny pinch of salt, and melted butter. Who knew that popcorn could ever morph into such a neat little platform, crunchy as all get out, and tasty as heck? I admit I never knew popcorn even had this potential until I took pastry classes.

Pastry chefs have been known to use the wackiest components imaginable in coming up with fancy desserts, some of them so commonplace you would hardly believe it. So why not employ the most plebeian treat of all in something that can be made at home in a few minutes? If pastry chefs can do it, so can we. Don't be shy. Get out the popcorn!

About this recipe . . .

Pulling out my copy of The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz, I noticed it's getting increasingly dog-eared, some of the pages lightly smeared from the residue of whatever ingredient was on my hands while using it. The book's a little masterwork, in my opinion, and it's chock full of the best ice cream recipes I've ever come across. I had to wade through some very disappointing ice cream volumes before finally being saved by The Perfect Scoop.

Yeah, I know, I'm preaching to the choir and I've sung this hymn of Perfect Scoop praise before. Needless to say, this peach ice cream is refreshing and too darn simple to be believed. No eggs in this particular formula, and nothing to heat on the stove. In other words, it's screw-up proof. You have nothing to lose.

I adapted the recipe to suit my purposes by adding in a wee dab of peach schnapps and reducing the amount of vanilla extract, omitting the water and lemon juice altogether, and using frozen uncooked fruit versus the fresh cooked fruit suggested in the book. I also reworded the instructions to reflect exactly what how I assembled everything. 

The popcorn cookie recipe was adapted from a recipe for an herb-spiked tart shell, designed for use with a cheesecake filling, that I found here, in the McCormick spice company's site. I nixed the herbs entirely and adjusted the method, rewriting it in the process.

Winter Peach Ice Cream and Popcorn Cookies
(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)


Yield: 6 large cookies and a full quart of peach ice cream

To make the popcorn cookies:

3 generous cups of plain, freshly popped, popcorn
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 pinch salt 
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

Place all of the popcorn in the large bowl of your food processor. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over it. Pulse repeatedly until the mixture starts to resemble the texture of rough cornmeal.

Pour in the melted butter and pulse again, a few more times, until it's evenly mixed in.

Divide the mixture evenly into the ungreased cups of a jumbo-muffin-top pan (that's what I used, similar in size to a whoopie-pie pan) or a regular muffin pan, pressing down to form a flat cookie shape in the bottom.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies look golden around the edges.

Let the baked cookies cool on a rack, in the pan, for about 15 minutes or so, then lift each one out carefully using the pointed tip of a sharp knife for leverage to help get them out. They should not stick to the pan.

They are kind of delicate, so handle them carefully and let them cool completely. Keep them in an airtight container until you're ready to use them.

For the the ice cream:

2 lbs. of semi-frozen unsweetened sliced peaches, chopped and drained
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream (I suggest using a predictably thick brand, like Breakstone or Daisy)
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. peach schnapps

In a large bowl, mix together the peaches and sugar. Let it sit until the peaches are almost completely thawed.

Pour the entire mixture into the large bowl of your food processor and pulse repeatedly until there are only small lumps remaining (at this point, if you prefer an ice cream with no little visible pieces of peach, go ahead and puree the mixture until smooth).

Add in the sour cream, heavy cream, vanilla, and schnapps, and pulse just until well combined.


 
Pour into a clean container, cover it well, and chill in the fridge for a few hours. Process the chilled mixture in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's directions (I use the ice cream maker attachment that goes with my Kitchen Aid mixer, then I put the churned ice cream into a freezer-safe container and leave it in there for almost a day or so before serving).



Let your frozen ice cream soften slightly before serving so it will scoop more neatly.

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Chocolate Moosetracks Ice Cream with Mini Peanut Butter Cups . . . Heat Waves Have Their Benefits!

I have to believe that humans had a harder time enduring summer before the advent of ice cream. I mean, come on, how did those cavemen get along on the steamiest days with all that excess hair, no air conditioning, and--worse yet--no ice cream whatsoever?? It must have been hellish.

Yes, the present era may be heavily laden with its own problems, but historically speaking, I figure we're pretty darn lucky. For one thing, we have easy access to moose tracks. And I'm not talking about the kind of tracks imprinted in mud by a four-legged creature. No, I refer only to the endearingly frosty, alluringly creamy variety. The kind you can scoop up, press down into a brittle sugar cone, or plop generously into a big shiny bowl. I speak, my friends, of that singular ice cream that's swirled with fudgy streaks and dotted with mini peanut-butter cups.

It's one of womankind's favorite treats (and probably mankind's too). It's moose tracks ice cream, and it's a flavor concept that was, by the way, born and bred right here in Michigan. I guess it was only a matter of time before I had to take a stab at producing a homemade version.

Too much heaven, you say? Oh please. This is me you're talking to. We both know there's no such thing.

About this recipe . .

Everything valuable I know about making ice cream at home I owe to pastry chef David Lebovitz. I've probably already told you in the past that I never made really spectacular ice cream until he wandered along and published what I now view as nothing short of a seminal volume, The Perfect Scoop.  

Dear David, 

You've done civilization quite a service. 

Are you even remotely aware of that? Gosh, I hope so. 

Love, Jane.  

P.S.  I seriously think a copy of The Perfect Scoop should be placed in a time capsule at the North Pole, post haste. Just in case. 

I've lately been reading his memoir/cookbook, The Sweet Life in Paris, and in doing so have become ever more enamored of this down to earth, fun-loving pastry chef. He's got poetry in his soul, whimsy coming out of this ears, and by all accounts he's the kind of dedicated chef who tests and tests and retests again until he gets it right. What more can one ask?

Today's recipe is adapted from his formula for milk chocolate ice cream in The Perfect Scoop. I changed his base recipe very minimally, by deleting the 3/4 cup of cocoa nibs as well as the 2 tsp. of cognac. Instead, I used 2 tsp. of Kahlua (coffee flavored liqueur that goes fantastically well with chocolate), and I added a few swirls of homemade milk chocolate ganache into the just-churned ice cream before freezing it, along with a half cup or so of Trader Joe's mini PB chips (they're actually very good, not too sweet, and not waxy).  And, of course, I reworded the Lebovitz recipe to reflect exactly what I did 'cuz, well, that's just what I do.

Thus, I present you with my version of chocolate moosetracks . . . or as I imagine David Lebovitz might casually blurt out, in a cute French accent, "Voila le moose tracks du chocolat!"

(Oh, and before I forget, many thanks to Denali brand ice cream, for coming up with their original moose tracks flavor to begin with. You are a credit to our great mitten-shaped state!)

Milk-Chocolate Moose Tracks Ice Cream 
with Milk-Chocolate Ganache and Mini Peanut Butter Cups 

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

8 oz. milk chocolate (with at least 30 percent cocoa solids), finely chopped (I used Trader Joe's brand milk chocolate; comes in a very big bar and has, I think, 33% cocoa solids. Not expensive, but nice  flavor. It's a good bargain to use for everyday baking, etc.) 

1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 and 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I use cane sugar when I make ice cream. Has better flavor, I feel, and they say it has fewer impurities than beet sugar.)
1 large pinch of salt (I used coarse kosher salt.)
4 large egg yolks
2 tsp. Kahlua (coffee flavored liqueur)
1/2 cup mini peanut butter cups (I used Trader Joe's brand for these, too. Yummy.)
1/2 cup milk-chocolate ganache, at room temperature (See separate recipe for ganache below.)

In a large metal bowl set atop a saucepan of simmering water, heat the chopped milk chocolate and the heavy cream. Stir gently, heating until the chocolate is completely melted. Remove the bowl from the saucepan, using care to get no water into the bowl. Set the bowl aside and place a clean mesh strainer close to it. 

Set up an ice bath by placing ice cubes and cold water in a large shallow bowl. This will be used to cool down your egg-based ice cream mixture before it goes in the fridge. Have the ice bath ready and waiting before you start the next steps.

In a medium size saucepan, warm up the whole milk, sugar, and salt. While they're warming, in a medium size bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Pour the warm milk mixture slowly into the yolks, whisking constantly. Then quickly scrape this mixture back into the saucepan with a flexible spatula.  Over medium heat, stir constantly, until it thickens and can coat the spatula or a wooden spoon. Be very careful not to over thicken this mixture. It should be very pourable; you don't want it to look like pudding at this point.


Pour the heated mixture quickly through the mesh sieve placed over the bowl of melted chocolate and cream. Urge it through with your spatula if needed. Stir to combine the two mixtures. Stir in the Kahlua. 

Place the combined ice cream mixture, in its bowl, atop the waiting ice bath, being careful not to let water get into the ice cream mixture. Stir the mixture now and then to help it cool. 

When it's at least room temperature, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least several hours or overnight. 


Make the milk chocolate ganache at least an hour or more before you plan to churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker. The ganache needs to be no cooler than room temperature so you can swirl it quickly and easily into your just-churned ice cream.


To make the milk chocolate ganache, and to finish making your ice cream: 


4 oz. milk chocolate, finely chopped (I used the same type of chocolate that I used for the ice cream mix.)
4 oz. heavy cream


Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream slowly in a small saucepan. When it's hot but not boiling, pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit undisturbed for a few minutes, then gently stir it until all of the chocolate has dissolved and the ganache is smooth and silky. Let the ganache cool uncovered until it reaches room temperature.


When you're ready to churn your ice cream, have on hand the ganache and the mini peanut butter cups. Churn the ice cream mix according to your ice cream maker's directions. As soon as it's done churning, quickly spoon in dabs of the ganache, swirling it in as you go, and sprinkling in the peanut butter cups as evenly as you can manage. Freeze your churned ice cream overnight so it can fully ripen. (I prefer to keep my churned ice cream in a couple of pint-sized sturdy glass containers that have tight lids because it seems to freeze more evenly and quickly than when I do it in metal or plastic.)


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Wildflower Honey Ice Cream . . . and Lemon Coriander Shortbread with Sunflower Seeds

"Flower" seems to be the operative word lately. The signs are everywhere. Daffodils rushing toward readiness,  dusky tulips shooting up against all odds, giant stalks of allium gaining height at a spectacular pace, tiny crocuses about to burst open in the grass. Not a thing is in bloom yet, but they're all working on it.

Today's recipes are in honor of those early spring flowers--the ones that make the effort to come back year after year. They let us know for certain, amidst lingering cold, that winter is truly behind us. And so, what better honey to employ in homemade ice cream than that borrowed from bees who consort with wildflowers? What better crunchy, salty item to blend into shortbread than roasted sunflower seeds?

About these recipes . . . 

If you often make homemade ice cream, you'll be unsurprised to see that this honey ice cream recipe is from David Lebovitz's spectacular book, The Perfect Scoop. I adapted it slightly from his formula for honey lavender ice cream. Though I do have culinary lavender on hand, and love it, I specifically wanted to use wildflower honey, and this honey's delicate flavor had to be unimpeded. Lavender's flavor is distinctive and it might have stolen the show. I was pretty pleased when I tasted this ice cream. One bite confirmed that omitting the lavender was the proper tactic. Wildflower honey is at the forefront here, no doubt about it.

The lemon coriander shortbread is based on Nancy Baggett's basic lemon shortbread recipe ("Iced Lemon Shortbread Fingers") from her indispensable classic, The All American Cookie Book. I adjusted Nancy's cookie by including ground coriander, salted sunflower seeds, and I opted not to use her lovely lemon icing. I also decided not to pat the dough into a 9"x9" pan as she suggests, but to roll it out to about a 1/4" thickness between parchment sheets. Then I chilled it in the freezer on a cookie sheet before cutting it, while still very firm, with cookie cutters. (That's my preferred method for dealing with cut-out cookies. It has saved my sanity time and again.)

Oh yes, about the coriander . . . At school, in the baking and pastry arts classes I've taken, we've often used herbs in non-savory recipes, so I already knew that ground coriander would blend seamlessly with the lemon. It sort of stands in the shadow of the  citrus, giving that tanginess an interesting, though subtle, boost. It's really not a weird combo at all.

Wildflower Honey Ice Cream and 
Lemon Coriander Shortbread with Sunflower Seeds

(For a printable version of these recipes, click here!)

Wildflower Honey Ice Cream
Yield: About one quart of ice cream, or slightly less.

1/2 cup wildflower honey
1 and 1/2 cups whole milk (I had no whole milk on hand so I used 1 and 1/4 cups 2 percent along with 1/4 cup of half-and-half.)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used pure cane sugar.)
One pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 cups heavy cream
Yolks from 5 large eggs

In a medium saucepan, stir together and warm up the milk, sugar, and salt.

Into a medium size bowl, pour the heavy cream. Mix the honey into the cream, stirring until it's completely blended. (If the honey is cold or too thick, you can warm it slightly in your microwave.) Set a fine mesh strainer over the bowl.

In another medium size bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Pour the warmed milk from the pan very slowly into the yolks, whisking constantly. Then, pour this whole mixture back into the saucepan.

Keep the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly (and I mean constantly!), scraping the bottom and sides of the pan repeatedly. Cook only until the mixture starts to thicken. You'll know it's ready when you can dip a wooden spoon into the mixture and, when you pull it out, it's lightly coated. (If you cook too long, you'll end up with something as thick as pudding. Not good.)

Pour the mixture into the strainer that's sitting above the bowl of heavy cream. You can help push it through the strainer with your spoon. Stir together until completely blended.

Place the bowl over an ice bath (a larger bowl partially filled with ice and a little cold water) and let it cool, stirring periodically.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

Process it in your ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's directions. (I use the KitchenAid ice cream attachment that goes on my mixer, and whatever I'm making--ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt-- usually takes about 20 minutes to thicken, using only the first speed.)

Scrape the soft ice cream into a clean container, cover it securely, and freeze it for at least several hours until firm or, better yet, for at least one day.

* * * * 
Lemon Coriander Shortbread Cookies with Sunflower Seeds

Yield: About 2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending on size.

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached.)
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 and 1/2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
Grated zest from one large lemon
3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into big chunks
1/4 tsp. salt (I used coarse kosher.)
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
3 Tbsp. roasted and salted sunflower seeds 


Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Have another sheet of parchment of the same size ready.

In a medium size mixing bowl, lightly whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and coriander.

In the large bowl of your food processor, process the powdered sugar, granulated sugar, and lemon zest for approximately three minutes.

Stop to scrape the bowl periodically. Add in the butter, salt, lemon juice, and lemon extract.

Process until fluffy and fully blended.

Add in the flour mixture and pulse until smooth and well combined. Stop to scrape the bowl as needed.

Put the dough into the bowl that held the flour, and using a flexible spatula, mix in the sunflower seeds.

Place the dough on top of one of the parchment sheets. Pat it into a rough rectangle and then cover it with the other sheet. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out between the sheets to a thickness of approximately 1/4". Slide the dough, still between the sheets, onto a cookie sheet and place it in your freezer for about twenty minutes.

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

When the dough is very firm but not rock hard, take it out of the freezer and take it off the cookie sheet. Peel off the top piece of parchment and place that parchment sheet onto the cookie sheet.

Leave the bottom sheet beneath the dough, and cut the dough into the desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place the cut-outs onto the parchment covered cookie sheet. The cookies will spread very little so they can be baked fairly close together. Bake for about 25 to 35 minutes, until just slightly golden brown.

Let them cool on the pan or on a rack.

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